Satisfied with the haul of 64 medals from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Sports Authority of India has assured that preparations were on sound footing and that the Indian contingent would win about 72 to 100 medals at the Incheon Asian Games in September.
Prediction proved right Addressing the media, SAI director-general Jiji Thomson said the assessment of about 60 to 65 medals from Glasgow had proved accurate.
The SAI DG said about 12 to 16 athletics medals and 10 to 14 shooting medals were expected in the Asian Games, keeping various factors in mind, including the country’s haul in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, China.
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India had won 65 medals in the last edition, including eight from cue sports, chess and roller sports, which have since been removed from the Asian Games.
SAI also put forth the figures of expenditure on each discipline, and highlighted that hockey had actually over-shot its budget of Rs. 10.5 crore by nearly a crore. Shooting (14.56 crore), athletics (10.72 crore), archery (6.55 crore), boxing (6.34 crore) and wrestling (7.82 crore) were the other major beneficiaries of the government’s patronage.
While only Rs. 39 lakh, out of an approved budget of Rs. 3.41 crore, had been spent on tennis players, SAI was optimistic that it would fetch five to six medals in Korea. Only travel grant was being given to tennis, and SAI expected other national federations also to be self sufficient, and take care of their athletes, in the long run, he said.
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The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had presented a list of 912, including officials, for clearance for the Asian Games. SAI would prune the list and make its recommendations to the Union Sports Ministry. The Union Sports Minister would make the final call, and the approved list would be out by Monday.
Helplessness Thomson expressed helplessness about the cricket Board not fielding a cricket team in the Games. He was also concerned about the scenario in boxing owing to the non-existence of a proper national federation, which was particularly demoralising for the Indian coaches and officials.
On hockey high performance director Roelant Oltmans complaint that the turf in Patiala was dangerous, Thomson stated that women’s team coach Neil Hawgood had actually been full of praise for the government’s overwhelming support for the game.
He also stressed that it was not an issue as there were many other turf surfaces available in northern India, including the one at the high altitude training centre in Shillaru.
The SAI DG also emphasised that the performance of foreign coaches, 33 of them being paid about Rs. 5 crore a month, was being analysed. The enhanced support for athletes — improved diet, supplements, availability of mental trainers, physios, masseurs — could possibly reflect in an improved medal haul in the Asian Games, he said.
Touching on the controversies relating to government awards for sports, he conceded that the process of selection was still not foolproof and that suggestions were being taken to improve the system.